1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a gripper arm, and a method for its manufacture, for a device for grasping, holding and guiding in particular bottle-like containers.
2. Background Information
A gripper arm is known in the prior art and is used in assembly line container processing operations. As used in the following, the term “container” refers in particular, but not solely, to bottle-like containers, thus, for example, beverage bottles made of glass or plastic. Particularly when cleaning, filling or sealing, the containers are grasped at an infeed station by a gripping device having at least one pair of gripper arms and transported to the next station in the process.
One such device is disclosed in the European EP 1 851 146 A1 patent application specification, for example. The gripping device it describes, referred to therein as a “clamp grip”, is intended for a container transport system, wherein the gripping device has two gripper arms and can alternate between a gripping position and an open position. The releasing or opening process respectively of the gripping device, i.e. for alternating from the gripping position into the open position of the gripper arms, requires an opening means for the device, e.g. in the form of a coil spring or a mutually repelling pair of magnets which exerts a force on the two gripper arms and thereby opens the gripping device. The gripper arms normally have a predefined initial position into which they automatically return in the absence of any force from a control unit. As is also generally known from the prior art, the control unit is thereby realized as a mechanically acting control cam, the force of which, and thus predominantly also the deflection of the gripper arms, equalized and/or cushioned by a suspension means in the form of a leaf spring affixed to each gripper arm. The suspension means thereby aids the gripper arms in compensating for material tolerances of containers to be grasped or discrepancies in the gripping reach caused by a tilted container and thus enables a secure grip and prevents damage to containers.
However, operating such a gripping device in an environment which is not free of dust is coupled with hygienic problems, which proves disadvantageous particularly when used in hygiene-sensitive processes such as bottling beverages, juices or baby food. This is because the above-mentioned individual parts of such a known prior art gripper arm, particularly the coil spring and the leaf spring along with their respective mounting means, collect dust and/or other impurities, whereby unwanted germs can accumulate.